The soldiers were said by the authorities to have been on their way to carry out mine clearance operations in the countryside near the town of Daglica.

They ordered immediate reprisal bombing raids against PKK bases, including those in the northern mountains of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region (KAR) of Iraq.

That carried over into land operations early on Tuesday, according to Turkish media, who quoted officials saying it was a short-term measure while in “hot pursuit”.

Villagers cover the body of a Turkish soldier killed in the bomb attack near Daglica District last week Photo: AFP

It was said to be a small incursion by two special forces battalions rather than a full-scale ground attack on PKK bases.

The PKK maintain their headquarters in the Qandil mountains of the KAR, in an uneasy relationship with the Kurdish government of Masoud Barzani, which has strong ties with both Ankara and its western allies.

The recent breakdown of the two-year ceasefire followed PKK accusations that Turkey was aiding Islamist terrorist groups including Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in their war on the Kurds in neighbouring Syria.

Since hostilities resumed in earnest in early August, more than 100 Turkish soldiers and police have been killed in attacks. The PKK have said scores of their fighters have been killed, though the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, claimed 2,000 PKK deaths.

In a separate attack, 13 police officers were killed by another roadside bombing, this time in Igdir province, yesterday morning(tuesday). They were on their way to a post near the border with Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, a major security operation in the town of Cizre in the Kurdish heartlands was said by pro-Kurdish media to have killed seven people, including a 13-year-old girl. The authorities have established a curfew for five days.

The ceasefire followed long negotiations with the PKK’s jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, as a result of which Mr Erdogan’s Islamist AK Party offered greater cultural freedoms and autonomy for the Kurds. The Kurds have also dropped demands for independence.

However, the establishment in northern Syria of Kurdish enclaves, run by the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, is regarded by Mr Erdogan as a major threat.